Saturday, December 16, 2017

Next week marks the start of my twelve week base training plan for Ironman 70.3 Hawaii, a.k.a. Honu. I have yet to finish up my marathon review, but I thought it best to get the new training underway without delay.

One area I will modify is the swim workouts. Joe's swim workouts follow well accepted practice. I'm no expert, but I don't see anything wrong with them. The issue is, I am an ardent follower of Terry Laughlin's Total Immersion method, where every workout is designed to focus on a specific aspect of technique. Terry's philosophy is that swimming strength comes from practicing technique. To this I add Joe's argument that as we age we must work extra hard to maintain muscle tone. For that I plan on continued reliance on strength training with Dorian Cuccia. As for the swim workouts, I plan get them from this great little book by three of Terry's students, "Fresh Freestyle," by Celest StPierre, Dinah Mistilis, and Suzanne Atkinson, MD. The book includes 99 practices, many with color photos. No more confusion about what to do at the pool for TI swimmers.

In his book "The Triathletes's Training Bible," Joe Friel talks a lot about identifying and working on limiters. A training plan provides a balanced approach to all three disciplines -- swim, bike, and run -- with no idea what specific limiter a particular athlete needs to improve. It is up to me to identify my limiters and adjust the plan accordingly.

The two areas I intended to focus on right way are run efficiency and bike threshold power. Some of that bike FTP improvement will transfer over to the run, but not unless I get my legs moving faster and smoother. To that end I expect to see more tempo runs and track drill sessions than called for in the plan.

Monday, November 13, 2017

Profile

Last Sunday I ran the Val Nolasco Half Marathon as a tune-up race for the Honolulu Marathon in a few weeks. The course is challenging in that it goes over Diamond Head out and back, with an extra bit up the backside of Diamond Head followed by a steep downhill on the outbound portion. The return route bypasses this section, but still includes a not insignificant climb up from sea level to what is know locally as Triangle Park, where the return route connects with the outbound route to head back to Waikiki. The marathon covers this same territory, it just starts in a different place and does an out-and-back before going over Diamond Head, and goes east a lot farther before returning to Waikiki.

At this point I intended to slip in a simple course profile, but ran smack into one of the challenges of data collection. My lovely Garmin 935 uses a barometric altimeter, much more accurate than GPS alone, but like all such sensors suffers from changes in barometric pressure. The weather in Hawaii has been especially unstable this week, and on Sunday there must have been significant upward change in pressure. The result is an altitude track showing a forty foot change in altitude for Kapiolani Park. You would think we lived on a floating Island.

Here is the altitude track from Training Peaks. I added the two red lines, which begin and end at the same location, just different times.

Did I hear you say, "No problem. Use altitude correction."

Yeah, in the past I tried that. For some reason the altitude data for areas where I do most of my running, and especially Diamond Head, is so far off that it only makes the data worse. Altitude data is not just to look at; Training Peaks actually uses it to compute intensity. Here is the same data with altitude correction previewed as a red line. I did not apply it.

Goals

My goals for this race were simple. Run all except the aid stations. Including that nasty climb up from Kahala Ave to Triangle Park, the one affectionately known as "That shitty little hill." You can spot it on the profile on the last big bump, the first part that drops a little before going up and over the top. That incline is deceptively steep, all the worse when your legs are tired. A related goal was to choose an intensity that I could hold throughout -- no walking -- but higher than my usual long run. Notice I did not say "pace." I have recently added a Stryd power meter to my collection of tech goodies. This would be my first time using it in a race. I also had a nutrition goal, to carry concentrated Infinit and consume with water from the aid stations. No gels, no salt pills.

I am a true believer in Matt Fitzgerald's 80/20 training concept. One problem with it is you never run much at race pace, until you have a race. This was my first race using Stryd, so I did not have any race power data to work from. I my review of recent runs I came up with this plan:

My long runs have been averaging around 130 watts, so I knew that would be an easy pace that I could always fall back to when needed. Those expectations were much too optimistic. As it turned out, my normalized power for the entire race was 130 watts. Average power was 126, so variability index came in at 1.03. This is a good thing in an endurance race. There were times I got into the higher zones. In fact I ran much of the beginning in zone 2, and hit a few peaks at zones 3 including that shitty little hill. I just did not sustain those higher levels for long.

Here is a plot of power showing zones (the extra wide light area at the bottom is zone 1, the others are more narrow and get progressively darker.(The entire race data can be seen here.)

I have been working on raising my cadence, and have made progress, but I am still well below what is generally considered desirable. Training Peaks give my cadence distribution as

30% 70 - 75
61% 75 - 80

The remainder is probably walking through the aid stations. The good news is the consistency, even on the hills, which means I am regulating my speed by shortening and lengthening my stride, which is good. Here, cadence is the yellow line.

In yoga, your world is your mat

I always do my run workouts alone. I have a plan, I execute the plan, some days better than others. I see other runners coming and going. Some I know by name. Others, just a nod. Running in races presents another challenge. Some races, like the Honolulu Marathon and the Great Aloha Run, attract a wide variety of participants, including people who never train and only plan to walk the route. Then there are races that attract only serious runners. This is always one of those. Quite the opposite of a fun run. As soon as the starting horn sounds they take off like hounds on the scent of a fox. You would never know from watching the start that this was an endurance event.

I lined up midway back. The route goes west a bit, then north on Monserrat, then east on Paki around Kapiolani Park to Diamond Head road. By halfway along Paki I was passed by everyone, including moms with strollers and a young Marine carrying an enormous backpack which I learned later in the day weighed 70 pounds. By the time Paki reached Diamond Head road, twenty minutes into my day, I seriously considered dropping out. I really did not relish being that guy everyone waits for at the finish. It is not as though I am 87. Plenty of runners older than me.

My first personal test was running up Diamond Head. I made it, and it didn't kill me. My power hit 160 watts a couple times, just like my plan, although my legs refused to sustain that level of intensity. As I rounded the top I felt pretty good, and had a nice recovery running down the east side to Triangle Park. From there I could see a few runners up ahead, so I was not completely alone.

If there is one thing I am worse at than running, it is yoga. I have had two yoga teachers, and both frequently remind the class not to compare your ability with others around you. Focus on yourself, on doing the best you can and striving to improve.

When I got to the bottom of Kilauea I stopped and turned around to look up the hill towards Kapiolani Community College to see who was behind me. Nobody. I was in last place. Once again I was bombarded by thoughts that I should turn off at Elepaio and head back. Again at the aid station at the Aloha gas station. Only that would mean joining the throng already heading back only to be passed by everyone behind me, again. No, I drank my Infinit, which tasted great, and headed out on the highway. At first I was running past dozens of runners already on the way back from the turn-around, but by Wailupe they were gone, and I was really alone.

Just before Wailupe I passed the Marine, who had stopped to adjust his backpack. For a while it did not occur to me that I was no longer last. I must have figured he would pas me again. At Wailupe they told me the turn around was just head, at the flashing lights. As I approached I realized that the flashing lights where on the truck picking up the cones. They had already taken down the turn around spot. I ran to where I thought it might have been, at West Hind Drive, then headed back. That was when I met the Marine again. I told him he might as well turn around here. There was no timing mat, nobody checking. He was walking, so I walked with him a bit, which is how I learned he was a Marine. After a hundred yards or so I told him I better start running again, and left him behind.

After Kahala there was no more thought of turning back. I just did the same things I had done all along. Focus on good form. "Relaxed smooth ease," as Matt Fitzgerald likes to say. Watch the right foot strike, don't swing in and land on the outside edge. Hands high and relaxed. Back straight, shoulders back. Lift, lift, lift up out of the hips. Feeling too tired? Check the power. Throttle back to 130 instead of walking. Feeling better? Take it up a little. Uphill? Don't pull up the hill, shorten my stride instead. I always have the voice of Coach Dorian in my head, so in that sense I am not alone.Back at Wailupe I tell the workers to cheer for the Marine. Again at the Aloha station, he is the last runner and not going well, give him encouragement. One more time at Triangle Park, the ten mile point. From there it was up and over Diamond Head. I was surprised I could still run, all the way up. No other runners in sight but lots of encouragement from other folks walking and jogging.When I reached the east end of Kapiolani Park I realized that the Marine was probably just a few minutes behind me. I had already missed my sub 3:30 goal, so why not wait for him and finish together? Nobody wants to be the last to finish. So I stopped and waited a bit, then decided I was foolish to wait much longer with no idea how far back he was.A funny thing happened at the finish. Absolutely nobody cheered. Nothing. Everyone there was packing up. The time keepers had already packed up the timing mats. This has happened to be before at these events, but there was always someone sitting there with a clipboard manually logging in the stragglers. I stopped my watch, then went off in search of someone to give my time to. I wonder if I will get an official time. I had to find my own shirt. The last one, a size gargantuan. Not at all like the marathon finish.It was then that I learned that the Marine had dropped out at the mile 10 aid station. Possibly with a stress fracture in his ankle. He told the aid person he had not trained for this race, that he just decided at the last minute to do it and with a heavy backpack. Ah, youth. So as it turned out I was the last to finish. I admit I cringe when I see times posted by friends, less than half of my time. My PR for this race is just over 3:30 so I would have been thrilled to get below that, but my time of 3:51:36 was what I predicted. I may have been last, but I ran my race as close as possible to my plan, and finished without injury or duress. Tired, of course. But not too tired to drive home, shower, and have lunch with Pattie and her sister Lynne, and Mike, at Goma Tei. Their kontatsu shoyu ramen makes a great post-race meal. After that I slept for a couple hours.Now, I suppose you can call this good news, it is my hip flexors at the front that are sore. Usually it is in back, the top of the glutes or the piriformis. That tells me I was standing straighter, not hunched over. One of my goals.

Thursday, November 9, 2017

First off I must admit it has been awhile since I posted here. A few small changes resulted in greater demands for my time. Something had to give, and one of those things was this blog. Going forward I will try to be more regular. I might even return to the weekly summary. That review actually helped me to stay focused.

Since September I have been focused on running. As soon as the Honolulu Century Ride was behind me I switched my weekend schedule, doing long runs on Sunday and short but hard FTP bike workouts on Saturday mornings. I prefer it the other way around so that my legs are a bit fresher on Saturday, lower risk of injury, but Saturday afternoon gamelan rehearsals after a long morning run just was not working for me.

A typical marathon training plan has long runs ramping up to 20+ miles a few weeks before the race. The plan I originally devised followed that pattern, but eventually I ran into a problem (pun intended!) I was coming home dead-dog tired, and carrying high fatigue well into the week. The issue is pace. I am slow. Getting better, but still slow. My slow run pace does not get much above 18 min/mi. Several good coaches, including Joe Friel and Bobby McGee, say that training runs longer than three hours are of limited benefit. The musculature is as beat up as it ever should be while the risk of injury goes up significantly. Running beyond three hours means more time to recover, all the more so for us old guys. So, at my 18 pace a three hour run will get me about 10 miles.

One thing I changed was my route. Instead of walking to my starting point at Kahala Aloha gas station I now drive to Kapiolani Park and run over Diamond Head to Wailupe Park and back, which come out to be around 11 miles. Last Sunday I did it in 3:16. Not too bad. Average pace 17:50 and that includes running the hills. Intensity factor was 0.76, a bit higher than I would like but still OK. Average power was 123 watts, normalized power 129, VI 1.05 so good consistency. Average cadence 71, which comes as a surprise because I have been working on getting up to 80. But the cadence distribution bar chart shows I spent 56% of my time at 75-80, and 20% at 70-75. I guess I spend too much time walking at the water breaks. The good news is, when I am running I am close to the cadence I want to be at.

A couple more things before I get to my race plan. I now run with a Stryd power meter. I held out until running power was integrated into Training Peaks and my Garmin 935. Not quite there yet, but good enough to jump in and get started. Very happy with it, highly recommended to anyone already familiar with bike power meters. The other thing is not as profound. I read and follow Matt Fitzgerald's 80/20 Running. His premise is that too many runners spend too much time running fast. He spends a lot of time building a case for slowing down, doing 80% of their runs at a very comfortable pace and just 20% at a hard effort. As much as I want to go faster, I keep reminding myself of his advice and not push on the long run or the easy morning runs. Tuesday mornings are hill repeats, Friday mornings are tempo runs, the rest are all very easy. Turning to the power meter, my easy run effort is 130 watts. Quick note: running watts do not correlate to bike watts, and do not compare usefully between runners. So far it run watts seem to be highly individualistic. The key is to establish your zones and use them to regulate effort.

Which brings us to this Sunday's Val Nolasco half marathon. The key to my plan is to start easy at 130 watts, then beginning at the foot of Diamond Head run hills at 150-160 watts and flat sections 140-150. This is my first race using Stryd, so I will also be watching heart rate and RPE -- how I feel. That cruise power range may be too high, so I will keep 130 as a recovery effort should it become necessary.

You cannot have a race plan without nutrition, and here I have more news. I have started using Infinit sports drink. For the bike my mix includes some protein, same as Hammer Perpetuem, but for the run I leave it out; too hard to digest while running. Both include electrolytes, so I will not carry pills. Infinit works well at high concentrations, like Perpetuem, so I will carry three hours worth in a short water bottle. This requires that I take a mouthful of water before and after a swig of Infinit. I have been doing this for several weeks and it works great.

I really do not know what to expect in terms of finishing time. In 2012 I did it in 3:38. I did not run it in 2013 due to hernia surgery, and for some reason I did not run it in 2014. In 2015 I did 3:39. If I run at the pace I ran last Sunday, ten miles of most of the same course, I should come in at 3:53, so clearly I ran that well below race pace. Based on some short race pace intervals I did last Tuesday I predict 3:36. Why not reach a bit a try for under 3:30?

Sunday, July 16, 2017

I mentioned last week that I had decided to rearrange my priorities, and my schedule. This week we see the first real evidence of that. I changed my original Saturday 12 mile long run to a swim + run brick, which means shortening the run. Pattie and I drive to Ala Moana, meet whoever else is joining us, swim at 7:00, and by 8:00 I am running home through Waikiki. I love it, except for dodging people along Kalakaua. Anyone who runs in a big city knows what I mean, only they don't have Waikiki Beach to sweeten the deal.

I have Tinman as a "B" race, which is why TrainingPeaks calls this week Build 2 week 1 instead of Race. The periodization is relative to the "A" races, in this case, Dick Evans. Here is the progression, starting from last week:

Young, fit athletes can do a four week cycle, three hard, one reduced volume. Older guys use a three week cycle, two hard, one reduced volume. Working with schedules is easier if week four is always a reduced volume week, so us three week folks eliminate week three.

Tinman came at an awkward time, so I manually edited the ATP to come up with this progression. That explains how we have a Build week with only 530 TSS planned -- it is a partial taper week. Not perfect, but nothing ever is.

Nothing knocks you out of your routine more than a national holiday coming mid-week. That is exactly what happened this week, with July 4th falling on Tuesday. Most of my co-workers took Monday off, as did I. And, I made good use of the time.

I want to get back to my upstairs bathroom renovation. The room has become a storage area, and the guest of honor has been my sitar, the one I bought back in 1968 in San Francisco for all of $140. A genuine Hiren Roy. The real deal. (Back then the exchange rate was really off balance, so my $140 -- including shipment -- was probably the equivalent of a six months wages in rupee.) At some point during its lengthy stay at East West Center it had a little Humpty Dumpty accident, quite common for sitars. Work in the bathroom could not continue until the sitar was taken care of, so I took to UPS and had it shipped to the best Indian instrument repairman on the West Coast, Scott Hackleman. It cost A LOT MORE that $140 to ship. But it's family, selected for me by my teacher, Nikhil Banerjee. Something to look forward to when I retire.

My family does not do much on July 4th, no matter what day of the week it falls on. This is the result of several gallant attempts to take the kids to watch fireworks shows put on at venues such as Ala Moana Beach Park, only to narrowly escape being blown to bits by illegal fireworks in the hands of frenzied children, and trapped in gridlock traffic for hours. No, thank you.

Besides having no special plans, I was absolutely sure the morning would be totally free, a perfect opportunity to do a mini-tri. For those of you lacking triathlon experience, a mini-tri involves doing all three activities -- swim, bike, run -- in a manner that simulates a race only with shorter distances or lower intensity. It is all about transitions. Not only clothing changes, but changes in muscle sensing and activation. My plan was to get up early, throw the bike and running gear in the back of the Outback, drive to Sans Souci Beach Park and swim 1,000 yards, drive back to Triangle Park, ride the Tinman route, then run for 15 min. What happened was, I woke up, slept a bit more, then decided that I was too tired to do any of that. So much for dedication.

Sunday's long ride was cut short by a failed CO2 dispenser. I flatted in Kailua doing Olomana Loops (see first pic), no big deal until I went to inflate the replacement tube. All the gas came spewing out of the dispenser, as though the valve was stuck open. I worked it over and over, it felt OK. On long rides I carry two tubes and two cartridges, so I had one more chance. Same result. I had to take the bus home.

I have been doing an intensive about of running these past three months, with the usual goal of getting faster. Well, the program I was following was only piling on mileage and doing nothing to improve pace, so I have given that up and am in the process of rearranging things. More to follow.

The reason my CTL line is so much higher than my annual training plan is due to the extra running. No that I am changing course it appears to be falling too low. Be patient, I have not finished planning the way to DEMRR.

Sunday, July 2, 2017

This week went really well until Saturday morning. It always takes about a mile to find my legs, but this time I felt as though I had no control. I kept going too fast, and sure enough my HR would climb up to tempo range and beyond. Meanwhile, my legs felt stiff and a little sore all over. Not my typical warm up. I was ready to quit and call it a day when I remembered that Thursday morning at strength training we did legs. Dorian did some new things designed to work deep tissue. I did not feel as sore or tired as I have in the past after a leg session, not until I tried to run Saturday. Then I remembered that Wednesday's run had been hard intervals up Diamond Head. And Tuesday's bike workout had been hard intervals up Kilauea. No wonder my legs felt broken!

I decided to keep going, but stop if any real pain showed up. No bad pain, just lots and lots of stiffness and overall soreness. I walked when I had to. My legs finally settled down around 2 1/2 miles in. The really good part was that I had plenty of energy to run the finish hard. This is supposed to be a fast finish run, but since the finish on my course is uphill I get the intensity but not the speed. My HR was touching zone 5 at the end. Funny thing is, it felt good. Confident.

Somewhere during the week I changed Sunday's bike from another two lap Hawaii Kai ride, the one I did last Sunday, for a longer, less intense ride designed to build endurance for the Dick Evans. I have been totally focused on hill climbing, so I decided it was time for a 50 mile ride to Kailua and back. That went really well. Plenty of energy. All that CTTS training showed. This week I do a bit more of the same sort of thing, getting to where just finishing 112 miles is not a challenge in itself.

The impact of not taking a week off after CTTS is obvious here. This week's planned workload is going to keep pushing that CTL line higher. This is not a bad thing as long as my body holds up. Maybe I should plan a little more rest before Tinman, even though it is just a B race.

Sunday, June 25, 2017

This was supposed to be a race report on my "race" up Haleakala. Well, sometimes life gets in the way. Often we can make a small adjustment and stay on track, but every once in awhile life deals a tougher hand, a situation that requires a complete change of course.

Pattie and I made it to Maui just fine. We had a small glitch getting into our vacation rental. No instructions. I assumed someone would meet us. Nobody around. I finally tried the front door. It was unlocked. Keys on the little table along with some instructions. A hold-over of those fruit stands we rode past on Frank Smith's Hana rides, no attendant, just the honor system. I guess that's Maui.

We awoke early to a call from Pattie's sister Lynne. Their 95 year old mom was in the hospital with an infection. Sepsis. It sounded serious, very possibly an end of life situation. I decided that the only course of action was to withdraw and get back to Oahu as soon as possible. I dropped off my number with the race director first thing Friday morning in case there was someone nearby on the waitlist. The race director, Donnie Arnoult, was nice enough to roll over my application fee, so I can do the race next year for free.

We didn't fly until the afternoon so we drove most of the CTTS course. It goes up, and up, and up. Just like Pineapple Hill and Tantalus, only forever. I recorded our drive on my Garmin 935, then stripped out everything except altitude and speed. The gap is where we missed a turn and had to double back - I cut that part out. The speed is car speed. I left in in to give an impression of the switchbacks. More like Tantalus than Pineapple Hill. We did not go all the way to the top, and yes, I forgot to stop my Garmin where we turned around. But you get the idea.

As I write this Sunday afternoon there is a glimmer of good news. Mom's white blood cell count has gone down, from very high to just high, so maybe the intravenous antibiotics are working. All we can do is wait.

You know that life gets in the way thing? Get this. With all the stress, Pattie has come down with a cold. She cannot enter the ward to visit her mom. Really!

Since I did not do the race I reverted to a typical weekend schedule. Did my long run Saturday and a solid bike this morning. Back on the P3 to get ready for Tinman.

That low point on the 7 day chart is Friday. My CTL ended up at 83.3, right about where I planned. The increase is from Saturday's run and today's bike. I wonder how much of a spike CTTS would have made.

TrainingPeaks automatically plots the A races on this summary PMC. You can see where I planned some recovery that matches the computed (suggested) amount, but after that, heading to DEMRR, the lines don't track. That is because I have not filled in all of my workouts. I need to get to that, soon.

Last week

ATP: 450 TSS (This does not include the race)
Planned: 808.6 (This does include my estimate for the race, a wild guess!)
Actual: 669.4

This Week

Week of 6/26
Focus: Tinman, DEMRR

ATP: Transition, no planned workouts, do whatever
(Actually this is not Transition because I did not race. More like a Build 1 week.)
Planned: 385

Sunday, June 18, 2017

For once I actually did less than planned. Which is a good thing considering this is taper time. Tuesday's bike got shortened because I thought I had the wrong workout loaded in my Garmin, but that gave me time to remove my pedals (Garmin Vector power meter pedals) and drop the Merlin off at Dorian's so he could install the compact crankset that finally arrived. I skipped Wednesday's run because it was raining hard and I did not feel like taking chances so close to my A race. Spin class was short because Dorian delivered the Merlin and I had to install the pedals, plus Pattie's knee was acting up; better to quit while you're ahead. Sunday's bike was shortened and I changed the route, from Tantalus to Diamond Head, due to threatening skies, and I needed time to work on the seat post.

Yeah, the seat post. That thing was a poor fit right from the start, umpteen years ago. The saddle height is perfect so there is no reason to mess with it before the race. Except for shipping the bike. I have a terrific Timbuk2 bike bag that I prefer to use because there is less chance of dings and a bent derailleur hanger. Actually, my Merlin does not have a separate hanger, it's built into the frame. Bend that and kiss the bike goodby. Anyway, the frame will not fit in the bag without removing the seat post. Which is standard practice. With the Cervelo P-3 I also had to remove the handlebar, but that was because of the awkward shape. For a road bike I should only have to rotate the bars sideways. I have tried everything, so as I write this I am awaiting a call from Dorian to bring the bike and we will wrestle it together. If we can't bust it loose I will have to pick up some large boxes from UPS and construct a bike box. Onr that I can break down at the airport so that it will fit inside our rental car.

About the new crankset. I ended up with an Ultegra 50/34. Everything else on the bike is Dura-Ace so of course I wanted that, but nobody had any. I guess they all got sucked up by the pro teams. Oh well, Ultegra is nothing to sneeze at and it is a lot less expensive. But talk about down to the wire. I put in my order in late March/early April. Finally arrived last week Monday. Less than two weeks before race day. Whew!

Back at the start of the year when I created my Annual Training Plan the TrainingPeaks plan maker came up with a target CTS of 80.7 for CTTS. I started off below plan, then went well above it -- too high, probably -- then a little drop down closer to plan. As of today my estimated CTS on race day is 89.1. In other words, I got there and even did a little better. That should be a confidence booster.

Sunday, June 11, 2017

Managed to put in a good week of training. Wednesday's run workout was long and hard, and Saturday's run took a lot out of me. Enough that I shortened Sunday's planned ride.

For this week I need to back off a bit more, especially the running. Last week's TSS from the Annual Training Plan was 530; I did 773, but had I done everything as planned it would have been 959. Okay, so maybe I am getting it just right. Anyway, I am going to replace the Saturday long run (11mi, 220 TSS) with an old favorite, Kahala - Diamond Head Lookout (5mi, 110 TSS). That should give me better legs for whatever I decide to do Sunday.

My CTL is tracking nicely. Still above the ATP but following the plan profile. Higher is better as long as the body does not start breaking down. Let's take last week's "thing" as a hint.

Sunday, June 4, 2017

I have been very lucky this training cycle, good weather and good health allowed me to stay right on schedule. Alas, last week it fell apart. I had a great bike workout Tuesday morning, but when I got to the office I felt as though a bus has rolled over me. Immense fatigue, as if I had been walking non-stop all day. No fever, no runny nose. I didn't feel sick, so I assumed I had been training too hard. I ended up taking the rest of the week off. Lots of bed rest. My stomach was tender so I had to watch what I ate and only small portions. Eventually I decided it must be some kind of virus.

By Saturday I was well enough to attempt a ten mile run. Did it, a bit slower than normal. That afternoon after sitting on floor in a air conditioned room for five hours I ended up chilled so deep I was shivering uncontrollably for more than an hour.

This week begins Peak period -- also known as taper. The way I wrote my plan I have Peak week 1 and 2, then Race week. TrainingPeaks always starts weeks on Monday, so CTTS comes at the end of race week. So now we have 2 weeks until start of race week. Confused?

One way to look at this is I started Peak a week early. I must avoid the temptation to squeeze in every possible workout to make up for the lost time. The only significant loss was today's long Tantalus ride. I changed Tuesday's hill work to include a better high intensity workout, one that should produce a good muscle response without as much fatigue. I left Sunday open. The idea is to do a lap of Tantalus and see how I feel. I should be able to do two, the only question is whether or not I feel like doing three.

Sunday after is Father's Day. I penciled in a Pineapple Hill ride, focused more or endurance than intensity, but I need to work it out with Pattie. Sometimes Tantalus is a bit too steep.

My weekly CTS scores show a dramatic drop in training. No surprise here. The good news is that as long as I stick to my plan I will hit my goal for CTTS.

Last week

ATP: 760 TSS

The planned and actuals for last week have little meaning due to my illness. Tuesday morning I got in my last good ride, and Saturday morning I did a ten mile run.

Sunday, May 28, 2017

This has to be brief because our Internet at home is down and I am running through my phone. Do not want to burn up too much capacity. I will expand on the history stuff later in the week. In the meantime I just want to post my schedule and take a snapshot of my Trainingpeaks stats.

Last week

ATP: 760 TSS
Planned: 798.1
Actual: 651.4

This Week

Week of 5/29 - Build 2 week2
Focus: CTTS

ATP: 760 TSS
Planned: 1,161.5

Mon
AM Run, 3mi + strides
PM Ride, Hawaii Kai loop

Tue
AM Bike, hill cruise intervals
PM Swim, OW

Wed
AM Run, Tempo Intervals
PM Bike, spin class

Thu
AM Strength with Dorian
PM Yoga

Fri

AM Run, 3mi + 4 strides
PM Bike, Hawaii Kai loop

Sat
AM Swim, OW + Long run, 12 mi. (Run home from Ala Moana)

Sun
Tantalus 3x

Next race: 1 week until North Shore swim series #1
3 weeks until CTTS.

Monday, May 22, 2017

This has been one heck of a week. It began slowly, a little recovery from Sunday's race, then exploded into some major activity. I think I set a new PB for weekly TSS. The previous week scored 736.2, but the pre-race taper pulled down the weekly average. This week came out to be 1,087.1! I don't think I ever got above a thousand.

A high TSS should mean my fatigue is high, and it is. As I write this on Monday morning I feel very tired. Funny thing is, yesterday after a really hard bike ride I still had plenty of energy, enough to go out a purchase a new fan for our bedroom, and install it!

The best part about Sunday's bike ride was that I could do three laps of Tantalus better than my last attempt at two. The key of course was to hold back a bit. I kept reminding myself I was more interested in duration than intensity. As pleased as I am with the results, keep in mind that my total climb was 4,300 ft., not quite half of CTTS at 10,000 ft. Plus I has two nice recoveries in there, the decent plus a few minutes at the bottom. On the first decent I flatted right at the bottom, which imposed an even longer recovery. Strange, because I rarely get a flat. But luck was not with me, because I flatted again, front instead of back, near Honolulu Coffee Company where I go for a post-ride snack. Months without a flat, then two on the same day. Must be something in the air, because my Outback got a slow leak that resulted in four new tires. OK, no more flats!

All this activity gave another big push to my fitness ramp. Last week I predicted a drop, but no sign of one yet. I just hope I don't burn out.

Last week

ATP: 450 TSS
Planned:867.7
Actual:1,087.1

This Week

Week of 5/22 - Build 2 week1
Focus: CTTS

ATP: 760 TSS
Planned:920.2

Mon
AM Run, 3mi + strides
PM Funeral, Dale Hoffman

Tue
AM Bike, hill cruise intervals
PM Swim, OW

Wed
AM Run, 5k Ints 6x1min
PM Bike, spin class

Thu
AM Strength with Dorian
PM Yoga

Fri

AM Run, 3mi + 4 strides
PM Bike, Hawaii Kai loop

Sat
AM Swim, OW + Long run, 10 mi. (Run home from Ala Moana)

Sun
Tantalus 2x

Next race: 2 weeks until North Shore swim series #1
4 weeks until CTTS.

Sunday, May 14, 2017

In the goals I set out in my race plan I said I wanted a decent swim and bike, but the focus would be the run. I made that goal, and came pretty close to the pacing and nutrition.

I still pull to my left in the swim. This year I watched for that and corrected sooner than last year, so my course was my straighter. Still a few zigs and zags, but much improved. Also much improved is my sense of comfort in the water. It was a really nice swim. I was relaxed the entire time, felt great coming out of the water, ready to ride. Walked T1 to save feet, surface is rough asphalt.

The bike began with a little frustration. Technology fail. My Garmin Edge 520 refused to display power and heart rate. I stopped twice to try to get it going, and when that failed I did a full reboot while rolling down Nimitz Highway. Good thing the course was closed! When it came back, power was good, still no heart rate, This was not a big concern because my plan was all power based. Heart rate finally showed up on the run, after I fiddled with my strap. Again not a big deal, as my run was pace based.

The only disappointment was the organizers had us skip Lagoon Drive. This makes a mess of my bike time, so throw that out. I have no idea why that happened. There is nothing in the race information about a time limit. This means that I could bump someone. Not cool.

The real win, as I said, was how good my run was. Not that I am fast. The goal was to run the entire thing and not feel as though death was right behind me at the finish. No bonk. No cramps. No vomit. After a couple miles I held my planed 15:30 pace and pushed it above 14:30 at the end. I carried nothing, drank a little water at the aid stations. This was my first time not walking the aid stations, drinking on the run. Came in strong at the finish, but not as if I could have gone any faster.

Here are my plan vs. actual using my Garmin times.

Plan

Actual (my times)

Swim

0:45

0:51:32

T1

0:05

0:06

Bike

1:26

1:10:57

T2

0:04

0:03

Run

1:36

1:36:48

Total

3:56

3:48:45

Ramp rates and CTS got a big bump. I anticipate a return to normal levels soon.

One goal I missed was my form value on race morning. I was aiming for 4.0 but ended up at -8.5. This is not a huge difference, especially considering that this was a "B" race. On Monday morning it was -28.3, which is as low as it should ever be and signifies time for some rest. I was pleased to see my intensity factor for the day was 0.80. A 0.85 would have been even better, but given how slow I am this was a reasonable value. Duration is a factor because 1.00 means an all out effort held for one hour. Elites do Ironman races at 0.80 - 0.85, but I am an old guy.

Last week

ATP: 530 TSS
Planned: 647.1
Actual: 736.2

This Week

Week of 5/15 - Build 2 week 4
Focus: Recovery, CTTS

ATP: 450 TSS
Planned: 826.4

Mon
AM Run, 4mi + strides
PM Strength with Dorian

Tue
AM Swim, pool
PM Massage

Wed
AM Run, 6mi tempo intervals
PM Bike, spin class

Thu
AM Strength with Dorian
PM Yoga

Fri (box jellies next three days)

AM Run, 3mi + 4 strides
PM off, optional swim

Sat
AM Long run, 12 mi.

Sun
Tantalus 2x

Next race: 3 weeks until North Shore swim series #1
5 weeks until CTTS.

Saturday, May 13, 2017

My goal for this race is to have a decent swim and bike, and a great run. In years past I have faded on the run, a combination of going too hard early and insufficient nutrition. For the swim and bike I am less interested in speed than smoothness and consistency, to set up the run.

My approach to nutrition is very different this year. In the past I would drink one bottle of Perpetuem on the bike, supplemented with one pack of chews washed down with plain water in a second bottle. I carried Perpetuem in my run belt, supplemented with water from the aid stations. This year I will push more fuel intake on the bike and only take a little water on the run. On the bike I will have two bottles of Perpetuem, plus a short bottle of plain water behind the saddle. I will have two Bonk Breaker bars in my bento box. I will eat the first bar as soon as I am settled, and the second just before or after the turn-around at the airport, depending on how I feel. The idea is to eat while I am not maxed out and to allow enough time for the bars to digest before the run.

Power on the bike will be zone 2 for the first five miles, then ease up into low zone 3 until Lagoon Drive. On Lagoon Drive start to push, high zone 3, occasional low 4. Do not fight headwinds. At Piikoi back off to zone 2 and spin well to get legs ready to run.

The key to run will be to limit myself to a 16:30 pace for the first couple miles, and only then let it go up to 15:30. I will not walk the aid stations unless I am feeling extremely dehydrated. Use the water more to cool off than drink.

Sunday, May 7, 2017

This was a week of challenges met. Quite a contrast to recent weeks in which results did not meet plans. The result was nice bump in fitness and of course fatigue.

Last week

This week

Fitness

69.6

78.3

Fatigue

57.5

108.5

Form

13.4

-22.7

The three pics above are supposed to represent swim, bike, and run. The first I took on my Wednesday morning run. The second, me sitting in that back on my Outback, was after my Tuesday afternoon swim. The third one was near the end of today's ride. It was a good, hard week.

This week culminates in a race, so some taper is in order. I have this as a "B" race so I will only do a partial taper. Even for a "B" race you want Form to be positive and I will be aiming for 4.0 on Sunday morning.

Yesterday's long run and today's bike had something in common. A mental strength challenge. The last mile of the run is uphill. Not terribly steep, but enough to make the finish harder than it needs to be. For the entire mile my mind kept insisting I had run enough, that I really ought to walk it in. Like Odysseus lashed to his ship's mast to survive the Siren's call I forced myself to ignore that voice in my head and keep running to the finish. Today I heard those Sirens again, on the second lap of Tantalus. I was tired. At times I was going so slow it was hard to keep the bike upright. But I kept going, and I am fine. Tired, yes, but fine.

About going slow on Tantalus. Today I rode Makani Kekoa, my Cervelo P3, because next Sunday is a triathlon. This bike weighs considerably more than my Merlin road bike and has a 52/36 chainring set. I use the same HED wheels on both, which has a 28 tooth cog. On the first lap I knew I was already slow on the steep section. Cadence was down around 34 RPM. On the second lap I was down to 30. Much too slow. My Merlin has a 53/39 and even so Tantalus feels much easier on it. Could be weight, could be frame geometry. Could be crank length. The P3 has 170mm cranks, the Merlin, 172.5. That is not a huge difference, but the longer crank does give more torque for a given input force. In any case, I have ordered a compact crankset for my Merlin, a 50/34. The effect of going from a 39 to a 34 -- same crank length -- should allow me to bring that cadence up significantly. If that is still not enough I will go to a larger cassette, but that will mean replacing the rear derailleur with one with a longer arm. One thing at a time.

It has been a while since I rode Tantalus so I was not sure what effort to use. My plan called for sweet spot on the climb, and back when I set up the plan that was 148-160 watts. But lately, WKO4 has dropped my modeled FTPm down to 154. I have been advised not to chase that modeled value too much, that it is better to stay with measured FTPs unless the gap becomes significant. I had my FTPs at 169, but that was set last August. The thing is, Trainingpeaks will tell you when it goes up, but not when it goes down.

After today's ride WKO4 bumped my FTPm up to 155. I think the time has come to take that as the actual value. To see the difference I took a screenshot of the Power by Zones chart for today's ride before and after resetting my power zones. With FTP at 169 I spent most of my ride in zone 2. That is not how I felt.

After resetting my power zones in Trainingpeaks to WKO4's modeled values I am shown to have spent more time in zones 3 and higher. That is a better match to how I felt.

Here are the ramp rates for this week. Like I said, got a much needed bump.

That bump in CTL has brought me back on course to my goal for Cycle to the Sun. I see a lot of hill work in the coming weeks.

One more thing. While studying the power thing I spotted a difference in weekly TSS between TP and WKO4. I have not looked into it yet.